I slammed the button down on my alarm a mere second before it would've started screeching at me. I slid out of the warm comfort zone that was my bed with a groan — it was school today, for the first time in just under two months. And, thanks to my incredibly severe lack of motivation, I'd done zero schoolwork over the summer.
Meaning that getting back into the swing of things was going to be tough.
Exhaustedly, I dragged my school uniform on, scraped a brush through my dirty blonde hair and brushed mascara over my lashes — before slowly stepping down the stairs.
The house was empty; Mum and Dad always left for work early, leaving me to fend for myself — literally. My staple breakfast consisted of burnt toast (that goddamn toaster got me every time), and a chamomile tea — as recommended by Al. Of course, she'd rather I drink a concoction of mashed-up herbs that she grows out in the woods, but I couldn't help the fact I trusted the shop-bought packets a whole lot more.
There was no note on the side wishing me a good first day back at school, or anything. Typical.
I checked my phone as I crunched through my blackened toast, forcing it down with the help of the tea. No texts, no calls, no updates on social media, no emails — no notifications whatsoever. Just how I like it.
It was only when my bus pulled up at Challis High that I remembered the new American boy joining my school. That's how dead my brain was. Knowing my luck, he'd probably end up in my form — most likely he requested that. After all, he seemed to want to get to know me.
He's gotta have an ulterior motive or two going on in that handsome head of his.
It wasn't a massive surprise that Theo had chosen to come here; Challis High was not only one of the biggest high schools in Lake Oldoy, but it was also the best. Which, admittedly, wasn't exactly hard considering there were only three.
Challis High School had been around for about 50 years; meaning that while the teaching had significantly improved, the architecture hadn't changed much. I didn't mind though; I liked the brick and dark brown wooden window framed look of the place. Of course, getting closer to the place revealed the wads of chewing gum stamped into the concrete paths, the chips in the window frames' paintwork and the toilets... Well, high school toilets are always downright awful.
I stumbled off the bus, still half-asleep, and immediately spotted Wednesday — her dyed metallic-silvery purple hair creating a personal tornado in the early autumn wind.
"Hey, Wednesday!" I called over to her, waving subtly.
"Ember! Hi!" Pushing through a crowd of zombie-like teenagers, Wednesday's exuberant enthusiasm made me smile — though I couldn't understand how she was so excitable this early in the morning. "I haven't seen you for ages!"
"It's only been six weeks!" I exclaimed, shoving her hug off me.
I usually ended up spending my summer holidays largely in isolation D most likely with a relative dragging me off to a cold and distant land to meditate. My Uncle Rob, who'd taught me my (useless) mantra, lived in Svalbard. Over the holidays, I went there for training. Though I'd yet to see any progress whatsoever.
My uncle insisted that it was just taking time for my abilities to develop. But since my 16th birthday was fast approaching, I worried that my potential abilities would evolve much sooner than I was ready for.
"Okay, so what do you want first? The good or the bad news?" She questioned, trying and struggling to contain her mass of hair in the wind. Wednesday always had good and bad news when we hadn't seen each other for a long while; it was a habit of hers to gather things into slots of good and bad things — as if the world was that black and white.
"The bad," I told her as we started walking into school.
"Okay, so the bad news is that my palmistry skills aren't improving..." She shrugged and twisted her mouth wistfully.
"Maybe you need to study more hands than just mine and Al's?" I suggested and flashed a sideways glance at her.
"Nah," she shook her head, scraping the toe of her Doc Martins along the concrete floor as we hovered near one of the rusty gates into school. "They'd think I'm crazy."
"They already do," I indicated, not unkindly though.
"Anyway," Wednesday brushed me off to continue, "The good news is that I heard an American transfer student is joining our year!"
Rolling my eyes, I groaned, "Well I have three kinds of news — the good, the bad, and the ugly — on your good news."
"Go on..." Her hazel eyes widened in anticipation and interest, as she tucked her hair behind both her ears.
"The good — he's a he, and I feel like he's probably joining our form. The bad — I had a breakdown in front of him yesterday." I scanned around for a piece of 'ugly' news before my eyes landed on him. My voice turned slightly sour as I told Wednesday, "The ugly — he's standing right over there."
"Were you wary of him?" She blurted out straight away, barely even glancing over at Theo.
"I tried," I squeaked out. "Look, there's something... off about him."
"No shit," Al sauntered over, having somehow eavesdropped on our entire conversation, even though she was nowhere in sight.
"Hey, Al," I rushed, "What do you think it is?"
Wednesday answered instead, narrowing her eyes at Al, "Well first off, he's gorgeous, that's what's wrong about him. As far as I can see, at least. What is it with American guys being so much fitter than British guys?"
Al bristled at this, turning on her heel instantly and stalking off without another word.
"What the hell was that about?" It was my turn to widen my eyes.
While Al was only attracted to female spirits, Wednesday found attraction in all beings. Al claimed that she could only love female spirits, as nature is innately feminine — or something along those lines. Wednesday vehemently rejects societal constructs of attraction based on binary genders, but she still identified as female herself. Which I think is partly due to Al.
In non-spiritual mumbo jumbo, Al's a lesbian and Wednesday's pansexual. They're both out, and pretty much everyone accepts them. I mean, there was always the threat of me and my... anger issues if anyone dared be homophobic to them.
Yet that little conflict between them right there felt like more than just a disagreement over Theo's good looks, which should hardly be an argument point at all.
"I don't know." Wednesday lied; her eyes searching the grey sky for answers — a futile effort since there were no stars out. Then she snapped her head back down to normal, "We've got incoming — 12 o'clock."
Theo was striding over to us, a casual saunter in his step despite how he looked a little uncomfortable in Challis High's compulsory school uniform, with the freshly-ironed white shirt collar and dark purple and yellow tie close around his neck. I thought with a little smile about how I had permission to wear my top button undone and my tie a little looser — for 'medical' reasons. I had a slip to prove it and everything. Thanks, Mother.
Wednesday got her dad to do something similar so that she could fully embrace every notion and inkling she got about another realm, or something like that.
"Shouldn't you be in the headteacher's office?" I managed to ask him without stumbling over my words.
"Probably." He adjusted the shoulder straps on what looked like a brand-new backpack and rearranged his blazer lapels so they sat straight down his broad chest. He took my arm and pulled me a little away from Wednesday, who'd started gazing at one of her palms as if she'd never seen it before. "Look, Ember, I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to push you like that."
Pressing my lips together firmly, I kept my mouth shut and simply nodded. With his steely gaze boring down into my eyes, the rest of the world seemed to fall silent. There was solemn sadness in his irises, almost a silent pleading for help.
What is your secret, Theo Aquila?
"Ember? The bell's rung." Wednesday tugged on my arm, forcing me to reluctantly break my eye contact with Theo. "We need to go."
I let her pull me along as I heard Theo say, "See you later, Em."
Em? Nobody calls me Em, not even Wednesday.
Five minutes later I was sitting in form waiting for my name to be called in registration: Wednesday, Michelle, Jim, Matthew...
"Ember?"
"Here, sir," I answered promptly; that was my cue to zone out.
I sat at a desk on my own. When we first entered this classroom, our form tutor, Mr Markab, let everyone sit with a friend. Wednesday didn't know me back then and Michelle went to the same primary school as her, so they sat together. My few friends from primary school went to different high schools or ended up in different forms and never spoke to me again.
The register went on while I wondered whose form Theo was going to be in and whether I had any lessons with him. I let my gaze drift to the sky, where cotton wool clouds carpeted the blue sky I saw only the day before.
"Ember. Ember Milburn." Mr Markab's dreary voice yanked me agonisingly back to morning reality. When he did that, he never failed to remind me of that economics teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
"Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Has anyone seen Ferris Bueller? ... Anyone? Anyone?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Is there something outside that is more captivating than the arrival of a transfer student in our form?" He questioned, his thin and weaselly voice getting right on my nerves.
Always, sir, I thought. Refraining from gritting my teeth, I faked a smile. "No, sir."
Of course, Theo's in my form. He's infiltrated my school, my form — what's next? My friendship group?
"As I was saying, this new member of our form is from America. The big U.S. of A." Markab continued, "I don't want any of you bombarding him with questions or startling him with any pranks. That includes the History Resources, Josh — I don't want to send him home with a spear stuck somewhere where the sun don't shine."
Markab was a history teacher — the worst of their species. He was the kind of teacher who thought he could make quips that would end with all of us in stitches. It was a miracle that my entire form class's eyeballs hadn't detached from our optic nerves due to the sheer number of eyerolls that occurred daily with Mr Markab's presence.
"So, Theodore," Markab cleared his throat into a tissue, causing Theo to step away disgustedly, "Where should we sit you? Is there anyone next to you, Harry?"
"Yeah, Alex sits here but he's," Harry did quote marks with his fingers, "'Ill.'"
"Anyone next to you, Tessa?" As our form tutor, he should've known who sat where. It's not like we'd been sitting in the same seats in the same room for the past four years, or anything.
Tessa didn't reply but scowled and heaved her bag up onto the chair next to her. She then dropped her head back onto her folded arms in utter boredom. What a mood.
"Okay, well it looks like..." He scanned the class. "You'll be sat next to Ember Milburn... Although try not to get on her wrong side."
Cheeks starting to burn, I stared down at my desk as Theo approached; I'd gotten in trouble at school for my wrong side quite a few times. The temper seemed to flare up out of nowhere, landing me in hot water wherever I went, whatever I did. No matter how hard I tried to control it.
Several of the... incidents nearly got me kicked out of school. But, since my dad was a board member, I managed to get away with it. I had the majority of the teachers wrapped around my little finger, which came in handy more than once.
Theo discarded his bag under the table and parked himself next to me. He remained quiet.
"What did you choose as your GCSE options?" I broke the prickly silence, unable to bear it any longer. Form time consisted of a grand total of 15 minutes and generally, I couldn't spend more than five minutes without speaking.
Being angry at his presence was useless, illogical and pointless. So I tried channelling that anger into a normal conversation.
He frowned for a moment as if remembering, "French, Triple Science, erm... I.T., and — don't laugh — Photography. What are you doing?"
"History, Triple Science, French, and Business Studies — which I hate. I wish I'd chosen Music instead of Business," I admitted.
"What instrument do you play?"
"I used to play the flute," I told him. "But I quit 'cos it stressed me out too much."
"I can't imagine someone like you playing the flute." He glanced to see my reaction; I didn't react. "I can play a little guitar. I took the Band elective for a year."
Oh yeah, that's right. They have electives in the US.
"You do any sports?" I casually enquired — refusing to admit to myself the fact I was interviewing him on every single topic possible. Just gathering intel, is all I'm doing.
"I played basketball before I had to transfer."
"Why d'you stop?"
"Commitment issues," he replied abruptly and looked away.
Instead of questioning his commitment issues and recommending counselling for said issues, I changed the subject, "So how do you expect to maintain your — umm — physique?"
Theo laughed at me, "You think I have a 'physique'?"
"Well, I..." I blushed, at a loss for words.
He shook his head. "Forget it, I like to run."
"You're going to remember that I said you have a 'physique', aren't you?"
Theo's grin reached his eyes and their ordinary hazel-blue colour lit up with laughter. "I'll find a way to use it against you."
"Friends?" I put out my hand.
"Friends." His warm hand closed around mine, and I attempted to ignore the slight tug of electricity that seemed to issue from my chest — I resisted it pulling me closer to him.
A kid called Max piped up behind us, laughing, "Friends with benefits?"
"Do you honestly want to get on the wrong side of me?" I turned around and asked Max sweetly; he knew how mad I could get, pretty much everyone in my form did.
At Challis, through years 7 to 9, form classes had the vast majority of their lessons together. So every time a science practical I was doing didn't quite go to plan — meaning it most likely caught fire — everyone in my form knew something wasn't quite right, wasn't quite normal about me.
Due to my threat to Max, I could feel Wednesday's eyes on me from the other side of the room. Either that or she was appreciating the Your Country Wants YOU! and the Join the Women's Land Army World War II propaganda posters stuck to the wall beside my head, admiring the staple design for history rooms at Challis High.
"Uh, no thanks." Max ducked his head under the desk and quickly hurried out with his bag.
Markab noticed, as he always did, "Max...?"
Max flashed a toilet pass as he ran out and continued running down the corridor. At the speed he was going, I reckoned he must've been my partner in science — probably Chemistry — a couple of times.
"You know, Ember, you're pretty badass, for someone of your height." I'm pretty sure he meant it as a compliment, apart from the last bit. I wasn't even that short.
"No," I whispered. "I'm not badass. I have control problems."
Theo said next to me, in an exhale of breath, "Don't we all?"
Well, if I didn't think he was supernatural before, I definitely think so now.
Grabbing a couple of pencils out of my pencil case, I clamped my hands onto them under the desk and began to count — like I should've done at Ashley's... but didn't because I was too slow to react. I reached 100 before I calmed down.
"Ember, are you okay?" Theo's voice hauled me into the room again.
"Yep, totally fine," I let the lie slip out, keeping the scorched pencils hidden; I can't let him know.
I'd gotten lying down to a pretty fine art, if I do say so myself. It's not even that complicated; maintain eye contact, avoid all the predictable tells and keep your voice even.
"Okay, if you say so," Theo replied, yet there was the slightest ever trace of disbelief in his voice. He knew I'd lied; how I didn't know. Yet it was still there all the same.
"Theo, I—"
"Can you help me study?" He interrupted me, and what I was going to say was entirely forgotten. "Tonight, if you're free? To make up for it, you can have dinner at mine. My... mom cooks a great bolognese on Mondays."
"I'm not sure. I'd need to text my mum." I was glad he changed the subject; because I easily could've gone out of my mind wondering how he'd known I was lying. "What do you need me to cover with you?"
"Well, I suck at Chemistry and my dad made me choose French — he says it's 'good for the working world.'" He rolled his eyes. "Let me know as soon as you've texted her, okay?"
"Okay. Maybe you could help me with Biology, as well, if I can come over."
"Sure... I also need to make up for what happened at Ashley's house."
"Don't worry — I've already forgotten it." Lies — all lies; I've also forgotten how to breathe, and oh, look — a pig's flying past the window!
"Cool, it's a date, if you can come."
I opened my eyes wide and began to protest, but Theo reassured me that it was not actually a date and he just meant that it was a plan. I was simply being extremely paranoid and a screw-up. Nothing new there, then.
"Theodore?" Markab's weak voice called to the back of the class where Theo and I were.
"It's just Theo, sir," he reminded him, before rolling his eyes slightly at the teacher — officially marking him a member of our form.
Markab replied, ignoring Theo's correction, "Theodore, have you got a planner?" Theo held it up in the air. "Okay then. And your timetable? Yes? Okay, good. That's good." Theo started to walk out of the room as the bell signified the start of first period, leaving me behind.
If Wednesday asked, I could just tell her I was getting to know him. Isn't there that saying about keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer? I didn't want Theo to be my enemy, but at least getting him alone would allow me to try to figure out what sort of supernatural he was. And, more importantly, if he was dangerous.
I texted my mum at the first opportunity.
ME:
Hey Mum, hope your day's going well. I'm going to help a new transfer student catch up on some work he missed, so I'll be going around to his house. Hope this is okay with you?
MUM:
Fine.
That was it — no 'have a great first day back at school' or 'who's your new friend?' or 'what time will you be home?' or anything like that. It was nothing new to me, though.
My mother had been pretty absent from any major events in the past six or seven years of my life. I mean, she'd been around, but never properly engaged with anything I told her. We'd been close when I was younger, but then I got extremely sick... and everything changed. You'd think that a mother would be overjoyed that her only child survived a terminal illness, but not my mother.
Not because of what I'd unknowingly taken from her.
Transferals of power are common — both in the human world and the natural world, but also in the supernatural world. Some may see such transfers of power as natural, even expected within certain structures and societies.
A monarch dies, and their first heir becomes the next ruler — simple, right? I'd been reading up on werewolf lore over the summer, and the transfers of power between Alphas, Betas, and Omegas, but I still couldn't understand — for whatever reason, I just couldn't comprehend why the power in a werewolf pack has to shift.
In hindsight, it was undeniably due to my severe lack of experience with werewolves. But thanks to a certain American, I was about to get a whole lot more acquainted with that side of the shadow world.